Direction on my next upgrade

Chakster, that article is from 1994. I think you need to catch your breath, relax, get stoned and listen to music for the sheer enjoyment of it. 
Modern moving coil's moving systems have much lower effective mass than back then. That old high end peak is long gone. Phono amps have also made great strides. The very best cartridges are MC. Problem is they cost an arm and a leg. Having said this, about a month ago I got a wild hair and purchased a Charisma V2 from Elusive Disc (a REALLY great crew.) I have not had a MM cartridge for 30 odd years and this cartridge had uniformly great reviews. The Charisma has the same stylus and cantilever as the mighty (expensive) Goldfinger. While not the last word in detail it has an authority that only a few MC cartridges can match. If Rock and Jazz are your thing this is your cartridge. It will easily out perform any MC with step up device in its price range. Wild guess is you would have to spend $6K to beat it. I owned two 681EEs and the Charisma run circles around them. It also tracks better by a wide margin. So Chakster, saying modern MM cartridges can not compete with old ones is patently wrong. I would be willing to bet that there is no vintage MM cartridge that can compete with the Charisma never mind Grado and Soundsmith. They just did not have the materials science then that we do now. Just compare the size of the Charisma's diamond to that of the 681EE. It is easily 1/4 the size. The 681EE cantilever is a baseball bat in comparison.
Now maybe vintage cartridges are better than modern ones at the same price point, I can't say. But, the Charisma runs in another universe. It also costs $2000.00 which brings another subject to mind. If you can make a cartridge with the same cantilever and diamond as a $16,000 cartridge for $2000.00 why does that cartridge cost so much?? What is left is just magnets and wire. So the Goldfinger is gold. Add $2000.00 for the gold and the diamond. Where is the other $12,000? The answer is two different markets. You charge whatever that market will bear. MM buyers are obviously more frugal and they obviously get more for their money. So, what does that say about MC buyers? They are obviously willing to pay more for less. IMHO the best MC cartridge you can buy is the Ortofon Windfeld Ti price considered. Add a Clearaudio Charisma and you have the best of both worlds. 

Hi cpd,

I actually haven’t heard the bronze with the Rogue. I currently have a blue and it sounds great. I plan to upgrade to the bronze when that needs to be replaced. If you have the $$ just get the black, but I think the bronze is a good compromise if the blue isn’t cutting it for you.

That being said, your system is only as good as it’s weakest link, so you don’t need a Ferrari cart if you have Honda speakers, amp, etc.

Regarding the upgrade to V3, it’s worth it just for the phono, it sounds fantastic and you can tweak the sound by rolling the tubes as needed. It’s probably not going to stand up to a 1k stand alone preamp, but it’s certainly the best integrated phono I’ve heard. If you’re not planning on using the phono section, it’s probably not worth the effort to upgrade (maybe if you use headphones).

Would I get any noticeable benefit from going from the $230 ortofon blue to a $750 ortofon black(also upgrading the rogue)?

Of course you will. The beauty of "everything matters" is no matter what you improve, its improved, and you will hear it.  

The question for me then becomes, so what makes the most sense to improve? Almost never its a component upgrade. Because almost always there's something much cheaper like a cone or other tweak or mod that will get you at least as much net improvement without the net cost hassle of losing depreciation value and the hassle of selling.  

Plus the longer you wait between components the more time for technology to actually improve. Speakers improved so much my $16k Talon Khorus were replaced with much better Tekton Moabs that cost me hardly anything net but are leagues better performance. You may not want to hang onto anything 16 years but you get the idea. Its better to save up and make great strides than baby steps. 

In the mean time its not like you're standing still. One little piece of fO.q tape stuck anywhere on your arm will make about as much improvement as you'll hear between those carts you're considering. Maybe more. One little piece. The whole sheet costs $70. By the time you get done finding places to use all that tape, let me know if you don't think its easily ten times the price in improvements. Tweaks are like that. HFT are like that. 

Wait a few months and upgrade my integrated?

If you upgrade to a Raven that will be huge. Mega. Best of all will put you in a place you can pretty much forget about amps for years and years. By the time you tweak it out real good it will be hard to find anything better for less than a house.  

Also Raven is supposed to be coming out with new improved versions this fall. I'm hoping for something like a Black Friday sale for an Osprey.  

But that's me. You have to be you. Maybe you get so much from the pleasure of having something new its worth it to be getting something new all the time. Its not just about knowing components, you know. Its also about knowing yourself.

Take any advice you like best from this smorgasbord, but don't spend money on Synergistic Research tweaks, as Millercarbon suggests you do.  Most of those tweaks are "controversial", at best, in terms of actual benefits.  I am not saying categorically that they are worthless (although that is my private opinion), I am saying that such items are best reserved for those in a more advanced stage of audiophilia and system development. First, learn what you like and what it takes to get your system to a point where you are generally satisfied. I wouldn't be so bold as to tell you how to do that, because I have no idea what you are seeking SQ-wise. After that, maybe think about PHTs and HFTs and the like, marketed by SR.  Their only saving grace is you can return them for full refund within an allotted time period.